Claims fell 24k to 334,000, which was lower than the 345,000 expected by economists.

However, economists note that the claims tend to be very volatile and noisy this time of year as the major automakers idle and retool.

"Jobless claims were above consensus in last week's report, likely due to seasonal adjustment problems relating to annual auto plant shutdowns," said High Frequency Economics' Jim O'Sullivan before the release. "We expect the opposite pattern this week. The information value of the data will likely remain limited until later in the month."